Bipartisan front on interference with Fairfax

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy: “This is a sector which is being absolutely hard hit by the changes that the internet is bringing across the economy. The media will continue to evolve. What it can’t do is pretend it is not happening.”
Photo: Jessica Shapiro

by
Marcus Priest

The federal government and opposition yesterday warned mining magnate
Gina Rinehart
against interfering with the editorial direction of
Fairfax Media
newspapers, after she confirmed her increased stake in the company.

The warnings by Communications Minister
Stephen Conroy
and his opposition counterpart
Malcolm Turnbull
came as the Coalition tried to link job cuts at Fairfax to the start of the carbon tax on July 1.

Senator Conroy said it would be a “destruction of the Fairfax company if it agreed to give up its charter of editorial independence".

“What’s important to Fairfax and what has been a very, very important issue to Fairfax over its entire history, is its charter of editorial independence," he said.

“I saw a spokesperson for Ms Rinehart a week or two ago say they didn’t think that was quite as important as the traditional position of the Fairfax board. I would support the traditional position of the Fairfax board."

“If Fairfax is seen to be a mouthpiece for Gina Rinehart and a mouthpiece for the mining industry, it would undermine its business model dramatically," Mr Turnbull told ABC TV.

Speaking after the announcement of Fairfax jobs cuts, Senator Conroy said the overhaul was a sign of the tough media environment caused by the internet. “This is a signal to the future," Senator Conroy said yesterday. “[Fairfax] has got to make some tough choices. This is a very tough environment, the internet is a very disruptive technology."

Related Quotes

Company Profile

Mr Turnbull supported Senator Conroy’s position on the job cuts, saying the company had taken the right approach. “The problem is that the revenue has migrated to other platforms like Google," Mr Turnbull said.

But Opposition shadow attorney-general
George Brandis
said “every significant stage of the Fairfax production stage" would be directly affected by the carbon tax. Another Coalition MP,
Paul Fletcher
, said it would be “folly’’ for the Gillard government to proceed with the tougher regulations recommended by the Finkelstein media inquiry, given the painful restructuring the industry was undergoing.